#*flings the bad parts of endgame out the window*

[rebelmeg]

It's Good To Be Back

by rebelmeg

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Pepper Potts Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Lives, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Family Fluff, happy tears, in this house we take Endgame apart and only keep the bits we like, and toss the rest right out the window Summary:

After the Snap and everyone comes back, Peter visits Tony in the hospital and meets someone he didn't expect.

(UM, CUTEST GIF EVER COURTESY OF SREPPUB!)

For my @tonystarkbingo adopted prompt "Next Generation"

[the-fandom-took-over-my-life]

The one where he blipped and you didn’t (Ch. 1)

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Summary: Peter blipped. You didn’t. Now you’re both the same age and he’s confused by the kid he used to know and the girl you are now.

Word Count: 3k-ish

Warnings: Language, INFINITY WAR AND ENDGAME SPOILERS

A/N: Okay, this is Chapter One to this series. It’s a little long, I got carried away (sorry not sorry). Let me know what you think! Remember I also do requests, pls don’t get discouraged by my amateur profile, I’m still figuring it all out :)

Read the intro first

CHAPTER ONE

"Y/N, get your ass out of bed, you're going to be late." you heard Rhodey scold through your open door. 

"Language" you mumbled sleepily. 

"Goddamn- I don't have time for this." you heard him grumble under his breath and suddenly the fluorescent lights in your room switched on and you yelped in surprise, flinging the covers over your head. Rhodey chuckled and you heard your door swing shut. 

"If I come back in 20 minutes and you're still in bed, I'm going to personally fly you to school." he said through the door and walked away.

You smiled sleepily. Rhodey, though he was tough on you, cared about you like his own daughter. Nearly eleven years ago your mother had died in a car crash and you were sent to live with your father, Tony. You, being so young, were excited to finally meet your father. Tony, on the other hand, was a wreck. He had just announced to the world that he was Iron Man and the last thing he wanted was to take care of and raise a child, whether it be his or not. He had all intention of sending you off to boarding school but, when he met you, he refused to make the same mistakes his father did. You instantly melted his heart with your smile and your big E/C eyes. After deciding to take you in, he asked Rhodey to be your Godfather, not that he was a very religious man, he just wanted someone else to be there for you if there came a day that he couldn't. 

Deciding not to test Rhodey's threat, you rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Your reflection in the mirror, in the such loving words of Peter, looked as if death had walked over you...twice. It wasn't a secret that, since the battle and your dad's death, you haven't been sleeping well. Thankfully, nightmares were a thing of the past ever since Bruce gave you something that evaded them. You remembered waking up screaming, tears streaming down your face, causing Rhodey to come and calm you down in the middle of the night. Every night you were forced to relive a part of the battle, and every night you were forced to see your dad die. Now, your sleep was a void that, although lacked the trauma, was a difficult place to find peace.

You scrubbed your face and brushed your teeth, avoiding your face in the mirror, and walked back into your room. Not really in the mood to dress nice, you pulled on some black tights and a big sweatshirt that was draped over your desk chair. You slipped on your converse and walked back into the bathroom to put concealer under your eyes. The last thing your need is for one of your teachers to send your to the counselors office because of your physical appearance...again.

Deciding you looked presentable, you slung your backpack over your shoulder and started downstairs before rushing back to your room to grab your phone, still charging on your nightstand. You found 6 new messages. 

(1) Spider-thing: Hey are you gonna go to Flash's party tonight?

(2) Spider-thing: Don't tell me you slept in again

(3) Spider-thing: ok nvm I'll see u at school

(4) Ned: Hey Y/N u wanna go to Flash's tonight? 

(5) Ned: Peter might confess his undying love for u, u never know 

(6) Flash: Hope to see u at my party tonight I'll b waiting ;)

You rolled your eyes at Flash's text, and clicked the notification form Ned. 

Y/N: yeah right after he confesses his undying love for Flash 

He replied immediately, making you chuckle. 

Ned: I'm telling u, he's got it bad 4 u 

You rolled your eyes and slipped your phone in your back pocket. You found it funny; Ned's obsession with the idea of you and Peter as a couple, and sometimes you went along with it just to tease Peter, but that's all it was, teasing. Sure, he was hot and sweet and funny and, before the snap, these things nourished a major crush that bloomed in your little pre-teen heart. But things changed, you got older and, when he came back the same age as you, you had to remember that he probably still saw you as that little girl he used to babysit. 

~TIME SKIP~

"Bye Happy, I'll see you after school!" you said, blowing Happy a kiss as you closed the car door. Happy rolled down his window. 

"Call me if anything happens. Just call and I'll come and get you." 

"I will." you said watched him drive off. Happy was, despite the fact that it's been a few months since everything happened, still worried about you. You didn't mind it though, you loved him for it.

Sighing, you walked into the building that leered over you. For the first time today, you realized how heavy your backpack was and you made a beeline for your locker. You smiled sadly and recalled how Nat would always get after you for carrying too much and you would get the lecture about how, even though you were an Avenger, you still had to take care of yourself. You stacked the books in your locker, slammed the door shut, and found yourself face to face with Peter. 

"SHIT!" you shrieked as he howled with laughter. 

"You shoulda- you should have seen your face" he said between breaths. 

You rolled your eyes and shoved him into the lockers. 

"This isn't funny you idiot, I could have attacked you" you said despite the smile growing on your lips.

"I can take you Stark" he said, regaining his breath. 

"In your dreams Parker"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. It was then that you noticed the two coffee cups he held. You sighed in relief and gratefully took one from him. 

"Anyway, you ignored my texts this morning. You wanna go to the party?" he said falling in step with you as you walked towards your first class. 

"I don't know. Flash's parties always end with someone almost drowning in the pool or jumping off the roof." 

"Oh c'mon, let's go. Maybe this time it'll be Flash jumping off the roof and it'll put us all out of our misery." 

You couldn't stop the giggle that bubbled from your lips and you were about to reply when someone called you from behind. 

You both turned to see Brad Davis walking briskly towards you. You smiled at him and slowed your pace so he could catch up. 

"Hey Y/N, hey Peter." he said walking up beside you. 

"Sup" Peter grumbled. You sent him a sideways glare and turned to up at Brad.

Despite the numerous times you questioned Peter about his silent grudge against Brad, he could never give you a straight answer on why he hated him. "I don't trust him" he would always say, but you could never figure out why. Brad, like you, survived the snap and, because you were both in the same grade, became friends. 

"Are you guys going to the party tonight?" he asked.

"Jeez, is that the only thing everyone cares about?" you said jokingly.

"Well, it is the only good thing about high school" he said, making you laugh. 

Over the past couple of years, Brad was the person who got to hear all the complaints you had about high school. He had always been an annoyingly upbeat guy and he took all your complaints in stride, turning them into something that you should be grateful for. The last five years gave you very few things to be grateful for, but Brad was one of them. 

"You're definitely right about that. But, yeah we're planning on going" you said, slightly nudging Peter next to you.

"Awesome. I'll see you there then." Brad said and waved as he turned down a passing hallway. 

"Aw, I love Brad" you said fondly as you watched him disappear in the growing crowd of students. You looked up at Peter just in time to see him roll his eyes at your comment. You frowned at him, annoyed of his attitude. 

"Dude, seriously, what the hell is your problem?" 

 "Nothing. He just rubs me the wrong way I guess."  he said with a shrug.

It was your turn to roll your eyes.

 "Oh c'mon. you're just mad that he became hot while you were gone and now all the girls want him" 

"It's just weird. One day he was this tiny annoying kid and the next he's huge." Peter said before bringing his coffee to his lips. 

"Well it wasn't like that for all of us." you reminded him. "And how is that weird for you? You literally got bit by a spider and became hot overnight." 

At your words Peter choked on his coffee and coughed furiously, trying to breathe through the hot liquid. 

"Y-you think I'm hot?" he spluttered in disbelief 

For about the millionth time this morning, you rolled your eyes at him. 

"Dude, have you seen your abs? I had the biggest crush on you and your stupid hot spider muscles" you said with a smirk.

Peter stopped in his tracks in the middle of the hall and stared at you with huge eyes.

 "You had a crush on me?" 

 "Yeah, when I was like 13. You don't think I actually needed so much help on my algebra homework, did you? What's the matter with you?" you said laughing

Peter was staring at you like you had just dropped from another planet.

"I-I just never knew you felt that way about me." he said, eyes still wide.

You rose your eyebrows at him. 

"Yeah, well, I was a kid. I also thought the tooth fairy was real. I grew up. Anyway, let's forget that I was once a pre-teen and move on."

Peter furrowed his eyebrows at you, but let the subject go. He walked quietly beside you and barely even acknowledged you when you turned into your calculus class, telling him you'll see him later. Confused, you shot a text to Ned.

Y/N: Dude Peter's being weird

Ned: He's always weird what's ur point? 

Y/N: true

Y/N: ur right, nvm I'll see u at lunch

Ned: cool

Accepting that Ned was right, you chose to forget about Peter and try to focus on the party that awaited tonight as your teacher started the lecture. 'Derivatives' you thought with a smirk, 'what child’s play”.

~TIME SKIP~

"Alright losers, we'll meet at Peter's place at 7 then, right?" you said as the three you you walked out of the school's parking lot.

"Yeah definitely. I'm thinking about bringing back my hat. Betty says it compliments my face structure, whatever that means." Ned said, earning a laugh form you. 

"Earth to Peter. You are being uncharacteristically quiet" you said to Peter who was staring into space as you walked.

"Sorry, right. My place at 7." he said, jolting from his daze.

You eyed him, but, before you could question his behavior, you heard a familiar honk and turned around to see Happy waiting for you. 

"I'll see you guys tonight." you said with a wave, and walked toward the car. 

Peter watched the car drive away, and as soon as it disappeared down the road, he turned to Ned. 

"Y/N used to have a crush on me!" he blurted out. 

Ned furrowed his eyebrows. "Okay, and?"

"What do you mea- she used to like me! Like, like me like me" Peter said 

Ned smirked 

"And you're so freaked out about this why?" 

Peter stared at him. "I don't know. It's just weird"

"Or is it because you just found out that the girl you are head over heels for used to have a crush on you?" 

Peter rolled his eyes. 

"I do not have a crush on Y/N, how many times to I have to tell you. And, anyway, I'm not freaked out, it's just weird." 

"Sure Peter." 

~TIME SKIP`

You knocked on the door to Peter's apartment and dusted yourself off, waiting for someone to answer. You were excited to get to the party and relax for the first time this week. You looked down at your outfit for about the millionth time and inspected it. You were wearing a black sheer long sleeve with a solid black stripe around your chest and a pair of distressed light wash skinny jeans and black platform doc martin boots.

You were adjusted the hem of your top when May opened the door and immediately enveloped you in a big hug. 

"Y/N how are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in so long." 

You had actually seen her last week, but you smiled at her comment. 

"I'm good May. Are the boys here?" you asked, walking into the apartment.  

"Yeah they are in Peter's room. Maybe you can help Peter find something to wear, he's more indecisive than I am." she chuckled. 

"I'll see what I can do." you said with a chuckle and walked toward his closed door but stopped when you heard them talking.

"It's obvious that you like her Peter, all you have to do is tell her.” you heard Ned say through the door. 

Peter had a crush on a girl? Why hasn't he told you about it? You didn't really know how to feel about this new information. Peter was your best friend and, sure he had every right to like who he pleases, but you couldn't help but feel a little hurt. You were always the only girl in his life, even when you were younger, and you couldn't imagine Peter with anyone else. I mean, you’re not dating or anything. But, it was not your decision to make, and with that final thought, you pushed your feelings aside and opened the door to reveal Peter standing in the middle of the room in just his boxers.

"Y/N!" he shouted, his face turning beet red. 

"Oh relax Peter, it's not like I've never seen you like this" you said with a playful smirk.

It was true, you were always the one to patch him up after a bad patrol. 

"Anyway, May told me that you couldn't figure out what to wear so I've come to the rescue." you said and walked past him to his closet. 

Peter, for the first time, realized what you were wearing and his face flushed even darker. He took in you sheer top that showed your stomach and back and the skinny jeans that accented your...

"Y/N you look really nice" Ned piped up from the bed, wiggling his eyebrows at his visibly flustered friend. 

"Aw thank you Ned" you said, turning from the closet with an armful of clothes which you handed to Peter who refused to meet your eyes.

 "Okay, put this on" you said to Peter, and walked out of the room to chat with May in the meantime. 

"May, has Peter talked to you about any girls recently?" you said as you walked into the kitchen where she was drying dishes. 

She looked up and gave you a faux look of surprise. 

"No, not recently. Why do you ask?" she said, handing you the plate she was holding. 

She, like Ned, also had her suspicions about the relationship between you and Peter. She’d always noticed the way Peter looks at you and the way his face just lights up whenever she mentions you. She, too, thought the pair of you would make a great couple.

You went to put the plate in it's respective cabinet and shrugged. "I don't know, I was just wondering." 

She smiled at you. "I don't know, I always thought he would end up with you." she said slyly, picking up another dish. 

Your eyes widened, and you were about to answer when Peter appeared in the doorway. He was wearing the simple outfit you had picked for him: dark blue jeans and a black tee shirt. You couldn't help but admire how the shirt accented his abs and his toned arms. 

"You look good Pete." you said and chuckled at the light blush that dusted his cheeks. 

"just one more thing" you said as you walked up to him and reached for his head. He leaned back and looked down at you in confusion. 

"Oh c'mon, don't you trust me? I won't bite." you said, smiling. 

He narrowed his eyes at you playfully, but leaned back toward you and you carded you fingers through his hair, mussing it up. 

You fixed you attention on his hair and you missed the way he closed his eyes and leaned into your relaxing touch. He was also acutely aware of how close you were to him and the intoxicating smell of your perfume. 

"You guys ready?" Ned said suddenly from behind, and you pulled away, ending the moment Peter was relishing. 

You stepped back and admired your work. "What do you think May?" you said without taking your eyes off of him. 

"He's never looked better" she replied teasingly and Peter rolled his eyes as you laughed. 

"Yeah, can we just go already?" he said, faking annoyance and smiled at you. 

"Yeah, let's go!" you said and you grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door, Ned and May trailing behind you, sharing a knowing glance. 

You led him through the hallway, toward the exit and Peter tried his hardest to ignore the tingling in his hand as it held yours. He didn't want to admit it, but, recently, he couldn't remember what is was about you that reminded him of a sister. It was becoming harder to see you as the little 13 year old he used to know, but he couldn't tell Ned that yet. He didn't want to have to deal with any 'I told you so's right now, so he just relished the feeling of your hand in his and, for the first time this week, began to really look forward to the party. 

[writing-appreciation]

His Legacy

Paring: Peter Parker X Stark!Reader X Platonic!Harley

Warnings: ☡ ENDGAME SPOILERS ☡, Slight language

Synopsis: The reader is concerned for Peter becoming the "new Ironman."

GIF NOT MINE: @tomhollandnet

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ENDGAME: FINAL WARNING!!

He was distraught. We all were. Anthony Stark's sacrifice destroyed us all in many ways.

Pepper lost the man she loved.

Morgan and I lost our father.

Rhodes lost his best friend.

But Peter. Peter lost his second father figure. And that hurt him in ways that his Uncle Ben's death didn't.

I was depressed for a couple weeks. Part of me felt that it was my fault. I helped Tony figure out how to fix the snag in the Time Heist.

--Flash Back--

"D'you want washing or drying?" He asked me as we both apprached the sink.

"Drying, definitely drying." I responded, already picking up the dish towel.

"Alright, but if you accidentally end up soaking, don't be complaining to me about it later."

And a few minutes later, he did "accidentally" spray water on me, the ceiling, and a collection of photos near us.

"Dad! Ugh, I'll get the mop." I carefully walked away.

He just smiled and looked at the photos. First observing a picture of his father. Then he pulled a different photo from behind it, taking the time to gently wipe away the water droplets on the frame. He looked hurt.

I walked back over to mess. I managed to sneakily catch a glance at what photo he had: the one of him and Peter getting his "internship."

It made me want to cry. I know he felt bad about Peter dying. It's just the way dad rolled. Everything is his fault.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to look into the calculations about Scott's Time Heist." I slowly suggested, now staring at the photo of Peter smiling. I missed him.

My dad constantly teased us on "being oblivious to one anothers' feelings." Feelings or not, I knew I missed him. When dad told me he hadn't made it, we both cried for an hour.

"What did I tell you about easedropping young lady?" He feigned suprise. He took a deep breath and cleared his voice of any emotion other than sarcasm.

He wrapped his left arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

" It's too bad you suck at quantum mechanics too badly to help with any of it."

I scoffed at his insult, knowing I was fully capable of keeping up. I was a Stark, it's in my blood.

So we went to work. Busting out every computation of every calculation we could think of.

"This is impossible. I told them Tiny's stupid hesit is physically impossible."

I chuckled at his codename for Scott. It helped relieve some of the tension in the room.

"Okay, so the calculus works, we can agree on that?"

He nodded.

"So we just need a workable shape to bend time around and to morph ourselves around?"

I layed my face in my hands and thought of the shapes we hadn't tested yet.

"Yes, Einstein, we do. But We've tried every geometrical postulate imaginable. I'm sorry kid, it's not hap..."

"Mobius strip." I whipped my head out of my hands and looked at him.

"FRI, can you run the calculations with the Mobius strip?" He asked, desperation clinging to his voice.

I didn't have the energy to make some snarky remark on how he took my idea. I just wanted to see if it worked

I moved to where my dad was standing, also waiting with anticipation. I felt him glance at me. He wanted this to work because he knew I needed it to work.

The moment we saw the green loop appear around the stip we both fell backwords into our seats.

"Shit." Be both said in unison, stares not breaking from the display.

"Shit!" We heard a little voice behind us.

We turned around to see Morgan happily sitting on the stairs, watching us.

Dad made some quippy remark about having important shit to do, which caused Morgan to frown/smile. He then took her up to bed, but not before getting them icepops.

I turned back to the display. The green line still surprised me. I half expected it to disappear in the time we looked away.

This was gonna work. We were going to get them back.

-------

I blamed myself for it. I should've just let it go. We were happy. We had a family. We were good.

But then I remember the billions who dusted away. It was the right thing to do. It just hurts.

But Peter's pain was significantly worse. He was hard to trust. After Ben's death, he found it hard to trust people, especially any father-figure he became close to. Understandably dad's death destroyed his limited trust capacity.

We could tell it was destroying him, Happy and I. We saw it firsthand.

Fury was pushing Peter. What with his constant calls, and even him hijacking our Summer vacation. Fury wanted the new Ironman and he was deadset on it being Peter.

It made me mad a first. Fury believed I was envious of the offer being given to Peter. But it was more concern than envy. Peter was Spiderman, not Ironman. He can't be both. And nobody could ever replace my dad

Plus people overlooked the obvious choice here: Harley Keener.

He was 16, and a new student to Midtown Tech. He was the perfect choice to carry on dad's legacy. It's not like Harley had other heroic prior commitments like Peter or I did. Plus we got along great.

My dad connected us one year when we all went down to vacation in Tennessee and met his family. I immediately gravitated to Harley. Seeing as he was only one year older than me, a sort of summer fling also sprouted between us. It ended on good terms. We kept in touch, agreed to hang out every once in a while, and had a fun tendency to provoke my dad.

But when I apprached Fury about this he struck it down before I even got to mention Harley. He insisted that Peter become the new Ironman. Which was weird.

The next step was to try to convince Peter which I felt wouldn't be too difficult. He was cracking under the pressure.

But seeing as we were currently going head to head with a giant water monster in London, I figured it'd be best to table the the discussion for a later time.

So we did. Just at a different time when Harley showed up at the rebuilt HQ (the old Stark/Avengers tower) just after we got back from vacation. It was 9:30 and we both just wanted to sleep for days.

Peter went into full defense mode the moment he saw Harley sitting in the corner. In Peter's defence, Harley did look pretty shady.

The whole squabble was resolved when I pushed past Peter and welcomed Harley with open arms.

"Hey, if it isn't my second favourite Stark!" He exclaimed as we embraced.

Though he kept it silent, I could sense Peter's jealousy.

"Hey, Keener, nice suprise, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought we were going to talk to Fury today, so I just figured I would come in. I heard you guys were getting back today." He smiled.

I smiled back. It was truly nice to see him again. The last time I saw him as a few days after the Funeral when he dropped the news that he'd be attending Midtown Tech. I wasn't exactly a happy time, but it was mosty better now.

"Um, I'm sorry, but can you please explain who this dude is, (Y/n)?" Peter broke our little bubble of joy.

I noticed Peter even gave Harley a side glance of disgust and distrust. This should be interesting.

"Peter, play nice. This is one of my old friends, Harley Keener. I'm not sure you two met at the funeral, but basically he was a fellow mentee my dad sort of trained. He just moved here, and he'll be a Junior at Midtown Tech in a couple weeks." I politely explained to the disgruntled Spiderboy.

"And she wants me to be Ironlad."

Oh, this can't be good.

"Ironlad?" Peter questioned, now meeting Harley's gaze. Posture suddenly taller. Was he challenging Harley?

"Yeah, (Y/n) here called me about it a while back. I already have prints for a suit and she said she'd help me with it." He replied rather egotistically.

Peter looked hurt. He looked to me and back to Harley with definative anger. He began to walk away.

I quickly hit Harley's arm in frustration.

"What the hell, Keener? I was going to tell him gingerly!" I whisper-yelled at him as I began to follow Peter. He started to suit up.

"Peter." I called to him.

"Peter!" I called a little louder.

"Peter Parker!" I jogged up to meet his fast paced walk and pulled his arm.

He pulled away forcefully. He looked pained. His eyes were showing early signs of crying, but his actions showed anger.

"Leave me alone, (Y/n)." He proceeded to walk briskly to the edge of an open window.

I followed him to the edge.

We made brief eye contact before he jumped out.

"Spidey, don't make me do this!" I shouted in his direction.

No response.

"Alright, he forced my hand." I muttered to myself.

"FRIDAY, do me a favor and don't send my suit after me, okay?" I asked the A.I, knowing she'd be listning.

So I jumped out. Completely suitless. Pepper was going to kill me.

Either I end up on th street as a not so pretty decoration, or Peter'd save me. We'll find out soon enough.

I felt the wind swishing through my hair and my clothes puffing in weird directions around me. I saw the points on the ground becoming more clear. I was getting to close for comfort. This was it. Peter was actually going to let me die because he's mad at me. Talk about petty.

Suddenly I felt a familiar tug on the back of my shirt. He really waited until the last last second to web me up.

I braced myself for the intense g-force I'd experience while being pulled back to the sky.

Before I knew it, Peter and I stood on the roof of a building near the tower.

"Do us a favor and don't throw yourself off of any more buildings." He said not even prying his eyes off of the ground. He was about to take off again.

"Peter Parker, I will keep launching myself off of buildings until you and I talk!" I yell at him.

He looked at me like I was insane. Which, jury's out on that one. I might be.

"What." He stated, again not looking at me.

"You can't be the next Ironman." I said simply.

This caused him to look up. Again, he looked like I just told him the worst news in the world.

"Peter, you can't be the next Ironman because nobody can be the next Ironman. He's irreplaceable." My voice began to crack. I was definitely going to cry. No preventing that.

"Tony Stark was an enigma. He was the best and worst man. Did I ever tell you the reason he took on Scott's Time Heist was because he looked at a picture of you two? Peter, he wanted you to live, not to crack under the pressure of being the next Ironman. If he could see you now, he'd..."

"Hey, (N/n)," He began to interrupt. But I wasn't having any of it.

"Peter, I don't even know what he'd do, but I just know he would disapprove of you trying so desperately to be the 'new Ironman.' Damn what Fury says, all he cares about is finding replacements! He wants you because he knows he can control you. Hell, he already replaced Natasha with another former assassin. He doesn't care about our wellbeing. I just know you would've been too excited to recognize you were being used, so I thought if I brought Harley in, he'd help me show my point. Peter, trust me he's great, and..."

Peter shut me up by pulling me into a tight hug and shushing me. This caused me to let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

"I get it. I miss him too. And you know he wouldn't want to be jumping off of buildings." I felt his chest vibrations. They were oddly soothing.

"Excuse you Peter, he's the one who taught me that trick." I smiled and sniffled. He wiped my tears away and just held my face.

"Uhmh."

We both jolted around to see Harley, now decked out in his Mark I Ironlad suit.

"I hate to break up this tender moment my ex and my soon to be best friend are having, but you guys SUCK at the whole secret identity thing."

"Ex? So you two have a history?" Peter asked, looking at me awkwardly.

"I was 14, I had bad judgement."

This caused an offended noise to leave Harley's mouth, but a laugh to exit Peter's.

Yep, these two were going to be good friends.

"Alright, we should probably all head home and sleep. School starts soon." I, being the mature teenager I am, suggested.

Harley took off.

Which left me and Peter on a roof.

"So..."

"So." I smirked. "You should probably get going. May's gonna be worried."

"Yeah, well sure, but do you like need a lift or..?" His question trailed off. Suddenly it clicked when my dad would tease him about being awkward with me. Does Peter Parker like me?

Instead of a response, I tapped the edge of my glasses and watched Peter watch as my suit began flying out the tower and to me.

"I'll be fine, Parker." I smiled, though it was hidden from him.

"Tell May I said hey." And I took off towards our house.

When I landed Pepper was out, waiting for me.

I tapped the edge of my helmet and the suit began to return to its nano form.

"What's this I hear about you jumping out of the tower?!" She yells at me, obviously playfully.

"What? I needed a way to get Peter's attention." I breezed past her.

"I swear you are jus like your father! You're aging me prematurely."

"How premature can it be?" I quip back sarcastically.

I hear an offended gasp followed by a chuckle.

I went up to my room, deciding I was too tired to take a shower. I just wanted to go to bed. So I proceed with my Nighttime routine and in no time was cozy in bed.

My window curtains were drawn back. As I began to close my eyes, I swear I saw the outline of the infamous red snd blue suit watching me...

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and sent a quick text to Peter.

He almost fell from the roof he was on. But recovered quickly. He stood and waved goodbye as he swung off into the night.

PETER'S POV

I just wanted to make sure they made it home alright. I knew Mr. Stark would never let me live it down if I didn't. Besides, I knew they were beat after the vacation, so I was afraid they would mess up the directions home, or something; but part of me just wanted to see them one more time before I called it a night. So I sat on a roof parallel to their bedroom window.

I waited until they got into their bed, and was tucked under the covers. They looked ready to go to bed, but they suddenly grabbed their phone off their nightstand.

I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out, suspecting it was them.

'My hero, making sure I got home safely. Go get some sleep Peter, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight x.'

I slipped when I read it. The 'x', that meant a kiss, right? Oh my God. They called me their hero. This is so much to take in.

I looked up again to see their beautiful (E/c) eyes one more time and waved them goodbye.

I jumped off of the roof and began swinging home, thinking about what adventure we'll have tomorrow. Hopefully a good one.

------------

A/N: Hey, so here's a thing. I got the inspiration of the Far From Home Trailer. I'm trying to get rid of some of my lost Endgame depression, but this actually made it worse wow.

Anyway, hope you enoyed this crappily slopped together thing I wrote during school.

[travellvogue]

The Gaffers Daughter

CHAPTER 17- Endgame

Four days had passed by, still no decision confirmed in your head. Trent had told you he loved you at least 50 times- you’d reply “I love you too” something so sickening and guilty about those words. It’s not that you didn’t love him, it’s just... maybe, maybe it was a way of masking your feelings for someone else. It was like a constant battle in your mind, you hadn’t really spoken to either of them as much as you’d wanted to, not wanting to hurt one of them, it was like your heart had been split in two and you didn’t know what part to follow. You’d began to pack your stuff up gradually despite having 3 days left here, it gave you something to do, worked as a distraction. You could tell everyone was confused when you weren’t sat with Ruben or Trent as meal times, instead sat on the same table as Dele and Eric, two people who had pushed you to actually acknowledge your emotions instead of ignoring them and praying either T or Rub would fall out of love with you so your decision was easier. But nothing became easier. Only harder. Every day you had to see both of them, to convince yourself that you weren’t more in love with one over the other. And it hurt you to have to force a smile when he made eye contact with you, because you knew his feelings for you, the ones he’d been so honest and open about.

“I think you know who you want, you just don’t want to admit it” Dele’s speaking as him and Eric laze on your bed as you pace around the room. It killed them to see you so caught up in broken emotions, they knew the pressure you were putting yourself under and they hate to see you so stressed. “But I don’t want to hurt him” your sighing as they nod, fully understanding who your talking about, “as much as it’s gonna suck you gotta do it” Eric is mumbling desperately not wanting to pressure you but he couldn’t bare to see you in this state anymore, and after all the boy deserved to know how you feel about him. “Ignore what everyone’s telling you, what your dad says, what we say... go with ya gut” Dele speaks, you’d never known him to be so serious. Running your hands over your head as a release of tension, trying to sooth your headache as you thought about the two boys, neither of them deserved to be in this situation. “You wanna go tell him?” Eric’s asking softly as you let out a deep sigh, nodding, knowing now was the right time, you couldn’t lead them one anymore. “We’re right by your side ok... we love you” they’re leading you down the stairs as you walk in the middle of the two of them, hands shaking with nerves as you overthink what your going to say to him, what if he didn’t love you, that everything you’ve been told was just a lie.

“Hi” he’s greeting you with a little smile as you make your way over to him, the only time you’ve fully acknowledged him over the past few days, you try to force a smile back but god you feel so bad, his innocent brown eyes looking up at you waiting for you to say something. “Do you really love me?” your asking as his eyebrows furrow, not expecting that question at all, and he’s clearing his throat with a little cough as he sits up on the chair, Ipad screen with solitaire opened on it now a muted black as it began to turn off. And he’s looking up and you, his gut instinct telling him where this conversation is going. A nod, just a simple nod. “Yeah” he’s sighing, of course he loved you, more then anything but he knew you didn’t truly feel the same way despite saying it back to him. He knew about the kiss on the football pitch outside, just after he’d told you he loved you, the huge glass windows looking out onto the grass kind of blew your cover, and lord did he try to pull himself together and pretend he didn’t just whitness you pulling in for a second kiss, but he saw it. All of it. “I-“ your voice is broken as you start, “You don’t love me” he’s doing the talking for you as your face drops, and he knows you want to cry, desperately fighting back the tears until one small droplet cascades down your face. “Trent” you sigh and his tummy flips, even the sound of your voice saying his name gives him butterflies. “I didn’t wanna break your heart Trent” you plea with him. “Well...” he giggles a little to hide his true emotions, knowing if he didn’t smile he’d cry. He’s always been a sore loser, and it’s not like your love was a game or a competition but he felt like he’d lost an element of himself whilst you tried to explain yourself. He wasn’t annoyed at you, he couldn’t be, your heart was made of pure gold, a soul as beautiful as yours would never hurt someone intentionally but god he ached inside. “Promise me one thing?” he’s speaking after a moment of silence, meeting your eyes as you look up at him, cheeks still a little damp and he just wants to kiss away the tear streaks but he can’t do that, not anymore, not ever. And your eyes are telling him to carry on, voice not strong enough to create any words. “You’ll still be my friend?” his voice is so weak you want to cry all over again, simply sticking to a nod as you try to force the lump down your throat. “Of course” another tear joins with your words, he looks so sad, so vulnerable as you take his hand and kiss the back of it, as he watches your movements intently wishing those lips were on his. “Love you” your whispering against his hand, a final closing statement, not the ‘I love you’ like he was looking for, but it’s better then nothing.

He’s having to excuse himself as he gets up, not even bothering to take his Ipad with him as his shoulders hunch as, legs dragging him up to his room to cry in private, not wanting anyone’s comfort or company right now. And he knows exactly who your going to talk to next, officially breaking his heart into the one-hundredth piece. The thought of you being happy with someone other then him making his lip quiver and tears stream down his cheeks, eyes stinging as they become increasingly red from the flow of salty tears.

***

“Ruben... can we talk?”, yet another conversation that wasn’t going to be easy, you knew he could tell you had been crying, a sympathetic expression on his face as soon as he saw you, reaching for your hand and taking you to the main reception, knowing no one will be there. “Why are you crying little one?” he’s asking, voice so smooth as you look up at him, desperate for him, so your flinging yourself into his arms, sobs shaking your body as you dampen his Nike t-shirt as he strokes your back, “shhh, I got you” he’s the comfort you need, the person you need. “Ruben?” you whimper, almost inaudible as you grip at his shirt, “yeah darling?” he’s edging you to tell him what’s wrong, but it’s not forceful. “I love you” the three words finally leave your mouth, and your almost certain you feel his heart stop as his grip on you tightens a little, breathing becoming more ragged and now he’s the one fighting back the tears aswell, those three words he’s been praying to god every night to hear, and finally there coming out of your mouth as he looks into your eyes, the eyes he fell so deeply in love. Leaning into a kiss, and it feels like the first time all over again, those same butterflies that have never disappeared since he laid eyes on you, since he introduced himself that day, since he fell asleep with you in his arms his heart beating rapidly fast when he woke up to your beautiful face, the kiss on the pitch the other day. Every inch of your being laced with his as you lips mould with his, they fit like puzzle pieces as he whimpers into the kiss, and he can feel the pieces falling into place. “I didn’t believe love at first sight was a thing; until I met you” he’s whispering against your lips as he feels you smile, “I love you” god it’s the best feeling to finally tell you, no longer needing to hide his emotions, to kiss you as many times as he wishes, to tell you he loves you everyday, to make your smile the widest in the room, to make you happy, “come back to London with me, meet my family, marry me” he jokes with the last bit but part of him is fully serious, so deeply in love with you, to share his life with you, beyond excited to start a new chapter...

whew, what a journey! a stressful yet such a rewarding one, thank you to everyone who’s read, sent their love and support, i love you all so much xx

[emjenenla]

I’m safe inside the light, so go on do your worst Part Two [A Stormlight Archive Fanfic]

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Elhokar was a failure at everything he’d ever done. He’d failed as a son, as a warrior and as a king. He saw no reason to fail as a Knight Radiant too. Or the one where Elhokar swears to the first Ideal at the end of WoK.

Warnings: Domestic Violence, Self-Esteem Issues

You know how I said this was going to be three parts? Yeah, I lied. At least this new four-part plan gives you more story to chew on while I inevitably get writer's block trying to deal with the failed get-Sadeas-to-duel-Adolin scheme which is my least favorite part of WoR for reasons that have nothing to do with Elhokar.

Also, I am planning to change the title of this work once I come up with something better, so the title might be different by the time I post part three.

Life went on, at least that was probably what happened to people who hadn’t been attacked by their uncles and bullied into handing over some more of their already shaky power. Elhokar, however, was having a hard time going on. At first he had nightmares that sometimes caused him to scream so loudly that his guards came running (of course they did that now when he wasn’t in any actual danger). After that had gone on for a while Elhokar became so terrified of reliving Dalinar’s attack in his dreams that he couldn’t sleep unless he downed a couple glasses of violet wine before lying down. When he was awake, he so panicky that he jumped at shadows and the smallest slights and threats were enough to send him into fits of hysterics.

And then there was the problem of the Stormlight. The spheres in his lamps and pockets were constantly going dun, some within hours of being recharged. Shadow had explained that was a byproduct of their bond and that Elhokar could learn to use the Light to do things if he practiced, but Elhokar didn’t even want to think about actually using the Light; he needed to figure out how to make it stop. He drew on a fair amount of Stormlight every time someone so much as mentioned Dalinar, eventually he was going to get caught and he didn’t want to explain what was happening.

“You look terrible. Have you slept?” Navani asked one morning when he was visiting her in her chambers.

“I’m fine,” Elhokar said. Shadow buzzed quietly, but Elhokar silently argued that it wasn’t really a lie. He was a lot more alert than he should have been given that he was running on about three hours of toss and turn sleep and a hangover. He suspected all the Stormlight had something to do with how surprisingly decent he was feeling, but he wasn’t about to tell Navani that.

“And you’ve been more anxious recently too,” Navani went on. “What’s been bothering you?”

“Oh, the usual,” Elhokar lied, making sure he kept his gaze focused on the view of the Plains out the window while he spoke. He was learning to be a better liar--something he couldn’t tell if Shadow liked or not--but he still couldn’t look someone in the eyes and lie convincingly, “Nothing particularly worth mentioning.”

Navani didn’t respond for a long time, and eventually Elhokar turned to look at her. Her lips were pressed together in thought, like she had sensed the lie and was trying to scope out the the truth. Navani and her two children had been cursed with the utter inability to truly understand each other. That said, Elhokar and Navani were much closer than Navani and Jasnah were because Navani found Elhokar at the very least less inscrutable than Jasnah. Navani might have been able to figure out at least part of what was bothering Elhokar if given enough time and he didn’t want to risk it.

“Mother,” he said as gently as possible. “Nothing out of the ordinary is wrong.”

“Dalinar said you’ve been calling him to investigate less supposed assassination attempts,” Navani said. “It’s good that your fear of assassination is fading, though I wish you would confide in me about what this new worry is. You’re starting to look like a walking corpse.”

Elhokar didn’t have the heart to tell her that his fear of assassination was just as strong as it had ever been, but that it had now been eclipsed by the fear of being assassinated by Dalinar.

The next time Dalinar held one of his “Oh look, my brilliant plan to use my ill-gotten power to force people to do what I want isn’t working” planning meetings, he brought along a contingency of darkeyed guards. Elhokar, like everyone else in the Warcamps, had heard about the bridgemen Dalinar had freed from Sadeas and turned into guards, but this was the first time he’d actually seen them. He was leery at first, as he always was of new people, but their leader--a serious man younger than Renarin with slave marks and a shash brand on his forehead--turned out to be very open to the idea that someone might be trying to hurt his charges which was refreshing. Still, Elhokar reminded himself that these bridgemen were even more firmly indebted to Dalinar than Elhokar’s lighteyed guards were; he could not trust them to actually save him if Dalinar told them not to.

Even though Elhokar was technically supposed to be in charge, Dalinar took over the planning, rambling around disarming the highprinces and treating them like new recruits and a million other things that were probably going to get not just him and Elhokar killed but everyone they cared about too. Elhokar tried to point that out, hoping that appealing to Dalinar’s hopefully more genuine feelings for Navani, Adolin and Renarin would actually convince the man to see sense.

“Yes, you are right,” Dalinar said, regretfully. “I hadn’t… but yes. That is how they think.” He sounded so sincere and gentle, like a kindly old grandfather. How did he manage that? Elhokar was torn between wanting to run the other way and wanting to get down on his knees and beg for the secret.

“And you’re still willing to go through with this plan?”

“I have no choice,” Dalinar said like that should be obvious.

Elhokar forced himself to go on, “Then at least tell me this: What is your endgame, Uncle? What is it you want out of all this? In a year, if we survive this fiasco, what do you want us to be?” That was boldest Elhokar had dared to be with Dalinar since the incident, and the sheer audacity of it made his stomach clench.

Dalinar was silent for a long time, simply staring out the window. “I’ll have us be what we were before, son. A kingdom that can stand through storms, a kingdom that is a light and not a darkness. I will have a truly unified Alethkar, with highprinces who are loyal and just. I’ll have more than that. I’m going to refound the Knights Radiant.”

Captain Kaladin jerked like he’d just been stung by something. Elhokar felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. He hadn’t really thought about what his strange connection to a creature claiming to be a spren meant, but Jasnah had used him as a sounding board on occasion--most likely because she’d assumed he wouldn’t understand what she was talking about--and some things had stuck in his head. Shadow began buzzing in a soft but discordant tone Elhokar had learned meant she was upset. That only confirmed his budding suspicions; whatever was happening to him had something to do with the Knights Radiant.

Great.

“Are you mad, Brightlord?” Brightness Teshav asked. “The Radiants? You’re going to try to rebuild a sect of traitors who gave us over to the Voidbringers?”

“The rest of this sounds good, Father,” Adolin said with a calm logic that most people probably wouldn’t have believed he possessed. “I know you think about the Radiants a lot, but you see them...differently than everyone else. It won’t go well if you announce that you want to emulate them.”

Elhokar felt like he was standing by watching everything even remotely sane about his life crumble to ash. Where they really seriously discussing refounding the Knights Radiant? The idea should have been dismissed as a joke the instant it was brought up, but Adolin and Brightness Teshav were trying to come up with logical reasons why refounding an organization of traitors that everyone hated was a bad idea. They were all so in Dalinar’s thrawl that they were actually considering it.

That wasn’t even the only problem. Shadow wouldn’t have gotten worked up if Dalinar was just spouting nonsense. Her reaction suggested that there was a real connection between her and the Knights Radiant, which meant that there was a real connection between Elhokar and the Knights Radiant.

Elhokar couldn’t help it, he covered his face and groaned.

“Am I a Knight Radiant?” Elhokar asked Shadow the instant they were alone.

She paused for a moment as if considering how she wanted to respond. “Not yet,” she said slowly.

“So I’m supposed to be a Knight Radiant,” Elhokar pushed on. “Dalinar is actually on the right track.”

“The way he plans to refound the Knights Radiant is not the way it is supposed to happen,” Shadow said. “The Knights Radiant must rise again, but it should be at the initiative of those who were chosen not at the behest of some over-zealous warlord with visions he thinks are from the Almighty.”

“People who are chosen,” Elhokar repeated. “People like me? Why would you choose me to be a Knight Radiant? Unless you want to make sure everyone hates them again. You can’t honestly expect me to believe that you thought I could actually manage to be a hero.”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe you capable of,” Shadow said. “It’s what you believe yourself capable of that matters.”

“Why do you always do that?” Elhokar burst out.

“Do what?” Shadow asked. She actually had the audacity to sound confused.

“Talk about me like I’m not a failure of a king and a pushover,” Elhokar said. “You’ve seen plenty of proof of both, why keep denying it?”

“One of us needs to have some self-esteem,” Shadow said curtly. “And since it’s obviously not going to be you…”

“What do you want me to do, Shadow?” Elhokar snapped marching across the room and flinging his hand out to his side. “Summon my Shardblade and waltz around the warcamps proclaiming the Knights Radiant reborn? If I was lucky people might actually kill me for being a legitimate threat and not just because Alethkar can’t have an insane ruler.”

“Elhokar,” Shadow said in a very peculiar tone. “You might not want to draw your-”

Elhokar’s Shardblade formed in his hand and the instant his fingers closed around it a dreadful screaming filled his head. It was as if something was crying out in pain, like something had been trapped unendingly in the moment of its murder.

Elhokar cried out and dropped the Shardblade. The instant he let go of the Blade the screaming stopped. Elhokar stumbled across the room and threw up in one decorative vases in the corner of the room. The screaming was one of the most horrid he’d ever experienced, up there with the battles which were little more than wholesale slaughters Gavilar and Dalinar had made him witness as a child to “give him a stomach for fighting.”

The guards burst in because they were evidently still under orders to pretend to care about his well being when it suited Dalinar. “I’m fine,” Elhokar growled, spitting bile into the vase. “Get out.”

“Your Majesty-” the guard began.

“Am I your king or not?” Elhokar snapped. “I ordered you out. Get out!”

The guards blinked looking like they were surprised to see their charge doing something other than whining about assassination attempts. “Yes, Your Majesty.” They said and slunk out of the room.

Elhokar leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor in a trembling heap. “You see?” He said to Shadow. “I can’t even use a Shardblade anymore.”

“I hate those things,” Shadow said coasting across the floor towards him. “They’re perversions.”

“I don’t care what you think of them,” Elhokar said. “No one will take an Alethi King who can’t use a Shardblade seriously.”

Shadow was silent for an almost outrageously long time. “What?” Elhokar asked when he couldn’t take it anymore.

“As time goes on I remember more and more,” Shadow said slowly. “I’m just not sure what I should tell you and what you should be allowed to figure out for yourself.”

“Oh,” Elhokar groaned. “So now you’re hiding things from me.”

“I-” Shadow seemed a little thrown. “I’m just not sure if telling you would be the best way to do it. I don’t want to hurt your development by telling you something you were supposed to figure it out on your own. Though I suppose if it bothers you so much I could just-”

She was cut off by a fist pounding heavily on the door. “Elhokar? Elhokar are you alright?” Dalinar. Elhokar felt his entire body go stiff. “Elhokar!”

Elhokar didn’t respond. His heart was beating wildly in his throat. Maybe if he said nothing Dalinar would just go away.

No such luck. “Elhokar, I’m coming in,” Dalinar said and forced his way into the room. Elhokar tried to stay as still and quiet as possible, but Dalinar saw him right away.

“Are you alright?” Dalinar crossed the floor in a couple steps to kneel before him. “The guards said you were sick.”

“I’m fine.” Elhokar said. If he was someone like Dalinar or even Adolin he might have managed to say that so it was believable or at least so no one would question him. However, Elhokar had a feeling that he just sounded like a child who was terrified his uncle was going to beat him up.

“Elhokar,” Dalinar said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Elhokar lied. He couldn’t look Dalinar in the face so instead he stared at the man’s shoulder. “It must have just been something I ate. I’m feeling better now.”

“The guards said they heard you scream,” Dalinar said. “Did something else happen?”

“I’m fine!” Elhokar pushed himself to his feet and crossed the room, trying hide that he was still shaking.

Dalinar was silent and when Elhokar turned he was studying him with his lips pursed. “What?” he asked.

“You’re not panicking about being poisoned,” Dalinar said. He spoke in a tone of voice that suggested he didn’t realize he was being sort of insulting. “I’ve never known you to be this calm in the face of the unexpected.”

Calm? Elhokar’s stomach was still churning and he wasn’t completely convinced he wasn’t going to throw up again. He couldn’t get the memory of the screaming out of his head, and Dalinar’s presence was doing nothing for his nerves. He was anything but calm.

“There’s nothing wrong,” Elhokar said trying to look calmer than he actually was. “I told you; it was probably just something I ate. I feel better now.”

Dalinar studies him for a moment then stood up. “You might be right, but I still think it would be best if you let someone look at you. You’re not acting like yourself.”

Elhokar had to bite his tongue to hold back a snort of laughter. He spent half his life trying to convince Dalinar to take his fears seriously and the one time he tried to get him to ignore something the man latched onto it. It was almost unbelievable.

“Fine,” He eventually said. “If it makes you feel better. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It does,” Dalinar said with a nod. “I’ll be right back,” and he left.

Elhokar sighed and sunk down into the sofa and leaned his head against the armrest.

“His plan won’t work,” Shadow grumbled. It sounded a little like she was just beginning to vocalize the thoughts that had been running through her mind the entire time Dalinar had been there. “You can’t expect strong-arming people who don’t like you to work.”

“It works on me,” Elhokar whispered, his voice so quiet that it was barely more than air blowing over his lips. “And he knows it. He knows. He knows it all. He must.”

“What do you mean by ‘he knows it all?’” Shadow asked.

“Nothing,” Elhokar said perhaps a bit louder than he should have.

Shadow was silent for so long that Elhokar started to think the conversation was over, then she said, “The Words you swore after our run-in with Dalinar are the only official Oaths that you have to swear,” she spoke gently but very deliberately, like she knew she might upset him but felt that she needed to speak anyway. “However, the bond between us becomes stronger each time you reveal a deep truth about yourself. The less people who know the truth, the more powerful it is. If you’re hiding something it might be best to just confess it now and get it over with.”

Elhokar’s stomach clenched at the thought. While he didn’t tell a lot of outright lies he did have a number of things he simply hid. Still, what Shadow was asking about, that was different. She was asking for the only thing that he had never told anyone, not even his sister. It was a secret that would confirm all the worst things that had ever been said about him. It was a secret so horrible and shameful that if he told it, no one, not even a liespren, would ever associate with him again. He would become the ultimate liability.

“There’s nothing to tell,” he said.

“Elhokar,” Shadow began.

“That’s all.” he snapped and deliberately closed his eyes, effectively ending the conversation.

Things passed tensely which was not necessarily a surprise. Brightlord Amaram showed up which made Dalinar really happy, though Elhokar couldn’t figure out if that was just because he liked Amaram or because the brightlord was part of Dalinar’s plan. He was honestly afraid to ask.

They continued on with the planning meetings, though Dalinar’s plan still seemed insane. During one such meeting, Elhokar hung on until he couldn’t stand it anymore then headed out onto the balcony to get some air. He still couldn’t be around Dalinar and remain calm, not to mention other things were worrying him. Jasnah was supposed to have arrived at the Shattered Plains with Adolin’s new causal betrothed, but there had been no sign of either woman and no word. No one else seemed to be worrying about it, they kept saying things like “Jasnah always gets distracted and runs off to do other things. She’ll turn up.” Elhokar was worried, but of course he was always worried and as a result no one took him seriously, even though from what Navani had said it seemed like Jasnah had been quite keen on coming to the Shattered Plains.

Elhokar was worrying about all the harms which could have befallen his sister when he leaned against the railing and the whole thing gave way. For one horrible instant he was falling then he grabbed hold of a stable piece of railing and was jerked to a stop. He sucked in a breath and his veins flared up with Stormlight giving him enough strength to hold on and probably haul himself up once he calmed down enough to think. He swore as fouly as he was able, completely throwing all kingly decorum to the winds.

Adolin reached him first, and clung to his wrists until Dalinar arrived and they hauled Elhokar back up onto the balcony together. Elhokar half wanted to protest that he could have climbed up on his own, but he wasn’t known for his upper body strength and he didn’t want people asking pointed questions.

Once he was safely back up on the balcony, Dalinar ushered Elhokar inside with a hand on his back, seemingly unaware of how every muscle in Elhokar’s body tensed at his touch. Elhokar separated himself from his uncle as soon as possible and pointedly did not look towards the balcony. He wouldn’t be going out there again for a long time, possibly not ever. He kept his teeth clenched together, refusing to allow any of the words he wanted to say escape. He didn’t think he could handle his fears being pushed aside again.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Adolin said. He sounded breathless and flustered, which was weird, because Elhokar had always been under the impression that neither of his cousins particularly liked him. “What are the chances that an entire section of soulcast railing just gives way right when the king leans against it? It must have been an assassination attempt.”

Elhokar held his breath as he waited for Dalinar to berate Adolin and tell him that he was overreacting. However, all Dalinar did was look at Elhokar like he was hoping Elhokar had suddenly gone deaf and hadn’t heard then said, “You have a very legitimate point. Has someone sent for Captain Kaladin?”

Highstorms were on the list of things that didn’t terrify Elhokar. Sure, they made him uncomfortable, but no more so than any other person. If anything, he was actually less anxious during Highstorms because no one could get to him to assassinate him. Highstorms were better protection than bodyguards, especially when all your bodyguards were more loyal to your uncle than they were to you.

Ever since they’d realized that Dalinar was experiencing visions from the Almighty during Highstorms not raving madly, he and Navani had spent the Highstorms closed up in a private room. Dalinar described his visions and Navani copied them down, normally phonetically because Dalinar didn’t usually speak Alethi and often spoke in languages or dialects even Navani didn’t know. Navani had mentioned once in passing that she wished she had Jasnah to help her, and Elhokar had quickly avoiding the topic, because the easiest way to not to be terrified about his sister’s safety was not to think about her at all.

This particular Highstorm, Captain Kaladin was head of their guards, though the man bizarrely fell asleep partway through the Storm, something that Elhokar hadn’t even realized was possible. Adolin thought it was pretty funny and started speculating about how long it would take the bridgeman to notice if he drew a mustache on him.

“Remind me not to fall asleep around Adolin,” Elhokar muttered to Shadow, shifting into a more comfortable position in his armchair.

“I will keep that in mind,” Shadow said. “It would be very embarrassing if your cousin were to draw-” then she cut herself off and began buzzing in her high-pitched, something’s wrong tone.

Elhokar scrambled to his feet and headed to the privy without looking at Adolin and Renarin for fear of them seeing something. The roar of the Highstorm could cover Shadow’s voice when she was being quiet, but he didn’t want to risk someone hearing her like this.

He closed and locked the privy door behind him and turned to face the mirror, looking directly at the place where Shadow was riding on his shirt just over his heart, half-hidden by his coat. “Alright, what happened?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

Shadow buzzed again, a high-pitched, whining sound. She was actually vibrating a little, almost like a tremor. “Something’s coming,” she said, her words so full of frightened buzz that she was hard to understand. “It’s bad. He’s bad.”

“What do you mean ‘he?’” Elhokar asked, a sinking feeling starting in his chest and travelling down to his stomach.

“Elhokar,” Shadow said quietly, still vibrating. “It’s not safe.”

Elhokar pushed the privy door open and burst out into the main room. The scene had changed. The door to Dalinar and Navani’s room was open and Adolin and Renarin were standing in it, Captain Kaladin was nowhere in sight. Elhokar struck out across the room trying to decide how to approach this. It wasn’t like he could say that a spren had told him it wasn’t safe, but if he said anything else people would just think he was being paranoid.

When he reached his cousins he found that Captain Kaladin was inside the room talking to Navani. “Can you wake him?” the bridgeman was asking. “We need to leave this room, leave this place.”

“What’s going on?” Elhokar asked pushing by his cousins and stepping into the room.

“You’re not safe here, Your Majesty,” Kaladin said. There was a wild sort of knowing in his gaze, the same kind of knowing that was burning its way through Elhokar’s veins. This bridgeman knew something was wrong, Elhokar wasn’t sure how but he knew. “We need to get you out of the palace and take you to the warcamp.”

“This is ridiculous,” Adolin objected from behind him. “This is the safest place in the warcamps. You want us to leave? Drag the king out into the storm?”

“We need to wake the highprince,” Kaladin said, turning towards Dalinar. Elhokar was impressed by the man’s refusal to be pushed aside even after being called ridiculous.

Dalinar caught Kaladin’s arm before the bridgeman could do anything. “The highprince is awake,” he said. “What is going on here?”

“The bridgeboy wants us to evacuate the palace,” Adolin explained.

Dalinar looked to Kaldin for his explanation.

“It’s not safe here, sir.” Kaladin said.

“What makes you say that?”

There was slight, almost awkward pause then Kaladin said, “Instinct, sir.”

Dalinar stared at Kaladin for a minute then he got to his feet. “We go, then.”

Elhokar breathed an audible sigh of relief, that got him a weird look from everyone in the room, but thankfully Kaladin was too worried about whatever instinct had him asking for them to move to let anyone ask questions. He ran to the door, gave some orders to his men, then came back and grabbed Elhokar by the arm. Elhokar jerked and almost pulled away, but reminded himself that he was supposed to be a confused king, not a maybe-Radiant who knew something was going on and let himself be lead.

They ran down the hall towards the kitchens. Kaladin’s hand was like a vice around Elhokar’s arm, cutting off his circulation. It did nothing to make Elhokar less nervous. He would have liked to be able to pretend that his captain of guard knew how to protect them from whatever threat they were facing.

They came around the corner and there were no lights. Elhokar had never known the palace to ever have a dark hallway, even during the Weeping. Something was very wrong.

“Wait,” Adolin said, voicing everyone’s concerns. “Why is it dark? What happened to the spheres?”

The realization struck Elhokar a moment later. “They’ve been drained of Stormlight.”

Kaladin jerked like he hadn’t expected anyone else to realize that. Then he pulled out a sphere for light and they could all see the hole cut into the wall leading outside.

“Danger,” Shadow buzzed. “Danger.”

There was movement from a side corridor, then a figure dressed all in white and streaming Stormlight stepped into the hallway and Elhokar’s heart stopped. He had not actually seen the Assassin in White the night the man had killed Gavilar, but he’d been obsessed with and terrified by the man for six years so he knew what the man looked like.

All around him his family members and the bridgemen burst into motion, but Elhokar was frozen. He was staring down the thing he had feared for years, and he couldn’t breathe let alone think.

One of the bridgemen, grabbed him by the arm and Elhokar jumped. “Your majesty,” the bridgeman said. “Come with me.”

Elhokar let the bridgeman drag him down the hall, away from the darkness and the death. Vaguely he was aware of Navani and Renarin and another bridgeman running with them, but he could barely focus on anything. His chest was tight as a vice and there was a roaring in his ears.

They stopped running and Elhokar’s legs gave out. He slid to the floor in a pathetic heap, wheezing for breath. “Moash, where did the Assassin go?” Renarin asked from somewhere above him. “Is he not following?”

“Maybe he got stopped by the Kal and others,” the bridgeman who hadn’t been dragging Elhokar along--Moash?--said.

“Captain Kaladin can take him,”  the other bridgeman said.

A hand settled on Elhokar’s shoulder. “Elhokar?” Navani asked. “Are you alright?”

“I can’t breathe,” Elhokar panted.

Moash might have snorted and muttered something under his breath, but Elhokar was too busy trying to breathe to really worry about it. Navani ran a hand up and down his back, comfortingly.

“Is he alright?” the other bridgeman asked. “What’s wrong?”

“He’ll be fine,” Navani said. “This happens sometimes.”

“I can carry him if we need to,” Renarin said sounding annoyed.

That was a level of humiliation that Elhokar would not stand. He struggled to his feet. “I’m fine,” he said, still trying to get air to circulate through his lungs. “We can go now.”

Navani got up, but kept her hand on his elbow. She looked at him like she wanted to ask a question, but he pointedly ignored her. Why couldn’t she let him at least attempt to pretend this hadn’t happened? No to mention, they did need to move. The Assassin could have killed Dalinar, Adolin and Kaladin by now and be stalking the halls for them. Elhokar desperately wanted to ask Shadow if she could tell where the Assassin was, but he already looked weak enough without seeming to talk to himself.

Moash was staring at him with an expression that wasn’t exactly neutral, though Elhokar couldn’t figure out what it was instead. “Alright,” the bridgeman said. “Let’s go.”

On the day that Dalinar held a meeting of all the highprinces to discuss the threat of the Assassin in White, Elhokar was somewhere on the weird line between hungover and still drunk. He’d been drinking quite a bit since Dalinar had attacked him in an effort to calm his nerves, but in the days since the Assassin it had increased exponentially. This was partially to keep from panicking and partially because he wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that the Assassin had actually been after Dalinar. He was stuck somewhere between shame that not even the Assassin in freaking White thought he was enough of a threat to bother killing and guilty relief that he might get to survive the whole fiasco. Either way, he was stuck at a meeting being lead by his usurping uncle and not brave enough to do anything about it even while mildly intoxicated.

With no better options, Elhokar sat on his throne and let Dalinar do the talking. Even knowing that Dalinar was the one in real danger he still felt horribly exposed without his Shardplate. Perhaps he actually was, after all someone had masterminded the railing assassination attempt and that probably hadn’t been the Assassin. However, he couldn’t actually wear the armor because the gems on the inside kept cracking or going dun. He had a feeling that had something to do with him being a Knight Radiant in the making, so he’d stopped wearing the Plate to keep people from asking questions he couldn’t answer.

Unsurprisingly to probably everyone but Dalinar, the meeting accomplished nothing. When they paused for a break several hours in the only indication that any time had passed was the change in the sun’s position. Elhokar was now firmly on the hungover side of the intoxication scale, and the bright sunlight filtering into the chamber was only making his headache worse. He was pretty sure he could use Stormlight to make himself feel better, but he’d been getting really paranoid about people noticing how often his person spheres were going dun. He would probably only use the Stormlight if he started to feel like he was going to throw up, because vomiting during a meeting like this would be a level of humiliating he refused to sink to.

He’d been sitting for several minutes nursing a goblet of orange wine and contemplating a stronger color to test something Jasnah had mentioned once about hangovers basically being withdrawals, when Navani turned away from the conversation she had been having and practically fled from the room. Dalinar was left standing with a red-haired girl Elhokar had never seen before, looking like he was thinking about going after her but couldn’t decide if that was his job.

Elhokar was on his feet almost before he decided to move. He didn’t bother with any excuses because the highprinces were all to busy scheming to pretend that Elhokar was little more than a comma to their obsession with beating Dalinar. Still a couple people did look up and call after him, but he ignored them and ducked into the cool and dim hallway after his mother.

Navani had been moving fast and had already vanished around a corner. Elhokar broke into a jog to catch up. Each step drove a spear of pain into his brain so he finally sucked in a little Stormlight to ease his headache. The passage was empty and that was a little unnerving; Elhokar hadn’t been without guards since his father’s death.

When he rounded the first corner he saw Navani up ahead. “Mother!” he called breaking into a faster pace that would probably be classified as an actual run.

For one minute Elhokar thought she was just going to ignore him, but then she stopped in the middle of the hallway and whirled to face him just as he caught up. There were actual tears in her eyes and the sight of them froze Elhokar’s blood. He had never seen seen Navani cry.

“Mother?” Elhokar ventured, hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

Navani took a deep, shaky breath. “That girl,” she said, “apparently she just arrived in the Warcamps. She claims to be Shallan Davar.”

“Who?” Elhokar asked blankly. The name sounded vaguely familiar but he wasn’t able to place it.

“Jasnah’s new ward,” Navani said. “The one who we were talking about marrying to Adolin.”

“Right,” Elhokar said, a little knot of anxiety loosening. If Jasnah’s ward was here that meant Jasnah must be here too, she was fine. He’d been worrying for nothing. “Then I’m afraid that I don’t understand what’s wrong. Isn’t that good?”

“This girl says,” Navani swallowed unsteadily. “That during their trip here they were attacked by pirates and that…And that Jasnah was killed.”

The small sliver of relief died. Elhokar felt a hole open up inside himself. He didn’t try to convince himself that it wasn’t true. He knew it was true. He’d known for weeks that something horrible had happened to Jasnah, all this was confirmation. His sister was gone. “Mother,” he said, a sob coloring his voice. “I-”

“The girl must be an imposter,” Navani said, straightening her spine and making as if to push her hair out of her face though it was still perfectly in place. “She must be lying. Jasnah will show up. She always does.”

“Mother,” Elhokar said, trying to figure out how to tell one of the most rational women alive that she was being irrational. “I don’t think that girl would-” And then it really hit him. Jasnah was gone. Jasnah who had once when they were children tried to comfort him while he cried by rambling about how tears were just meant to lubricate the eyes so crying when emotional didn’t actually make any sense. Jasnah who had at least listened to his worries even if she thought they were as irrational as everyone else did. Jasnah who had looked at him as her shadow fell in an impossible direction and trusted him to keep it a secret. Jasnah who had probably been a potential Radiant and everything that the refounded Order both Dalinar and Shadow wanted on their side. One sob burst out of his mouth and another and another. He tried to force them back, but he couldn’t.

Navani’s safehand came to rest gently on the side of his face. He looked up at her and her face crumbled into a sob as well. They sank to the floor and clutched at each other in a heap of sobbing bodies. Elhokar’s face was pressed against Navani’s shoulder and hers was pressed against his. They were gripping each other’s clothes in white-knuckle grips, squeezing each other so tightly it was a wonder they could breathe.

Dimly Elhokar was aware that this was wrong. Alethi didn’t break down, let alone is hallways where anyone could walk by. Even Elhokar, weak as he was, hadn’t cried for his father, and if Navani had cried for her husband it was only when no one could see her. They shouldn’t be doing this, but he wasn’t sure if he could stop.

Some indeterminable amount of time later, Elhokar became aware of someone clearing their throat rather loudly. He lifted his head from Navani’s shoulder, where he’d managed to soak a patch of her dress with his tears. Moash was standing a handful of paces distant with a look of open hatred on his face. It wasn’t the kind of contempt Elhokar would have expected from an Alethi discovering other Alethi in an emotionally compromised position, it was a look of pure, animal hatred. It was only there for a moment, then it was gone. Elhokar must have just been paranoid. Still, he wished that Kaladin spent more time guarding him and not this man, even if you didn’t believe Adolin’s crazy story about Kaladin taking a Shardblade to an arm that was now completely healthy.

“What?” he asked. His voice clogged with tears and snot. It was humiliating.

“The meeting is beginning again,” Moash said, voice normal, if a bit clipped. “I will need to escort you back. It’s not safe with the Assassin in White running around.”

They could not go back, not with evidence of their breakdowns imprinted clearly on their faces. Elhokar might have been able to use Stormlight to erase that, but what he could do needed to remain a secret. “In case you hadn’t noticed,” he said to Moash. “The Assassin is after Dalinar, so we’re probably fine.”

He felt Navani stiffen, apparently she like everyone else thought he hadn’t figured that out. Thankfully she didn’t comment, because when she straightened up she pushed her now slightly messy hair back and said, “You can escort us to my son’s chambers. If you’re so worried, you can post more guards for us there.”

Moash argued a little, but no one could stand up to Navani Kholin when she had her mind made up. Eventually he did as she asked and Elhokar found himself curled up with Navani in his big bed. They cried on and off for a long time, and eventually Elhokar ended up lying with his head buried in a pillow while Navani stroked his head the way she had when he was a child. Neither of them said a word.

Elhokar was on the edge of sleep when someone knocked tentatively on the door. “Enter,” Navani called, her powerful queen’s voice back.

The door opened and someone came in. “Are you alright?” Dalinar asked. Elhokar stiffened a little, but Navani’s fingers kept running through his hair and that relaxed him again. Navani would protect him. She wouldn’t let Dalinar attack him again. He resumed his slow float to sleep.

“We’re fine,” Navani replied stiffly.

“Navani…” Dalinar sounded like he wasn’t sure how to proceed. “About Jasnah-”

“Don’t say anything about Jasnah,” Navani said tightly. “There’s nothing to say. That girl must be mistaken. Jasnah will be back.”

“Navani, you can’t just-” Dalinar paused as he tried to figure out what to say, but Elhokar never got to hear what he came up with, because that was when he slid away into the relatively peaceful embrace of sleep.

[ironspiidey]

Superheros get Bullied Too Part 11

Chapter 1

Chapter 11: Tony Stark and Being Distracted

Read on AO3

I have yet to watch endgame bc my poor heart cannot handle it. Ive seen clips and heard opinions so fingers crossed i didn't completely butcher it. friendly reminder kudos and comments fuel my soul.

******************************************************************************************

Tony Stark is a lot of things but patient has never been one of them. His nephew was always testing his patience, be it with attitude, sneaking out or his tendency to throw fists first and ask questions later. Peter on the other hand usually isn’t even close in comparison but lately he’s been testing the older man’s resolve more so than Harley. The young superhero is more stubborn than a mule and Tony wasn’t sure how much more of it he was going to take before he snapped.

“Tony!”

Pepper snapping her fingers in front of his face pulled him from his thoughts. Looking like she was ready to smite him. “I’m sorry what were you saying Pep?”

Pepper just rolled her eyes and closed the file folder. “Tony where were you just then?”

“Right here?”

“I’m serious. You’ve been like this all day. Worse than usual.”

“I appreciate your concern I do but I’m alright honest.” Tony flashed her his best smile but she just gave him a pointed look.

“Okay, so it’s either about Harley or Peter. Either way I’m not going any further with business until we deal with your personal stuff. We need you to have a clear head with this Tony. “

Tony lets out a deep sigh. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m a big boy, I don’t need you work out everything for me.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “Yes because you deal with personal problems so well. FRIDAY?”

“Yes Ms. Potts?” the AI immediately responded

“Is everything okay with both Harley and Peter?”

Tony let out another large sigh as the AI answered his CEO’s questions.

“Young Stark is fine as of 8:45 AM this morning when he left for school. He has not had any alarming activity that would activate any emergency protocols.”

“And Peter?”

“Mr. Parker had been MIA from the hours of 6:30- 9:00 AM but due to Young Starks concern, Boss pinged Mr. Parker’s last known location via KAREN and was able to locate him.”

“Was there reason to be alarmed?”

“Negative, though I am not able to give more details on why or where Mr. Parker was due to privacy protocol by KAREN.”

Peppers eyes widened in surprise. “KAREN has her own privacy protocols?”

“That is correct, ones that were put in place by Mr. Parker without Boss’ knowledge.”

“Okay thank you FRIDAY.”

Pepper looked at Tony with a look he couldn’t quite identify. He just shook his head. “Don’t even go there Pep.”

“How long till you override his protocol?”

Tony swallowed. “I can’t.” He practically whispered.

“What do you mean you can’t? “

“It’s Peter’s protocol not mine.”

She scoffed. “Yes because you’re above overriding any protocol the person you’re dating has created or any person really.”

Tony shook his head. “I can’t. I need to trust him. “

“Wait what?”

“You heard me Pep. Peter he’s, well he’s never done anything to warrant me doing an override. Not like this. We removed the baby monitor protocol completely together a few months ago.”

“So you’re trying to tell me because that protocol was removed you can’t override it or hack into it?”

Tony rolled his eyes as he got up and started pacing around the lab. “I’m Tony Fucking Stark of course I can hack into a system I created! But it’s about trust now. Removing that protocol was a big move for the both of us. It was a whole thing, like about trusting him and the look on his face when it was gone. Pep I just I can’t go back on that.”

Pepper just looked at him, but really looked at him. “Tony….”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m getting sentimental in my old age.”

“No. You’re in love with him.”

Tony stopped mid pace and turned around abruptly. “You know I love him.”

“There is a big difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. Part of me thought you only said it to make him happy.”

Tony crosses his arms over his chest. “So you thought I wasn’t above lying to him about my feelings?”

“No! That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying exactly here?”

“Tony. I’ve known you a long time, I know how you deal with any form of a relationship. Either you tell them exactly what they want to hear or you barely speak to them unless you’re in the mood.”

“I told you from the beginning that Peter was different. I wouldn’t just start seeing someone who is still in fucking high school if it wasn’t different. This was never just another notch on my belt or fixation. I am capable of loving someone.” Tony’s voice became louder as he spoke.

Dum- E rolls over and pats the older man on the shoulder, letting out a soft beep.

“Sorry buddy.” Tony offers the bot a smile before walking back to the table where Pepper was sat.

“Did you just apologize to your bot?” Pepper looked at him with shock. “Who are you and what have you done with Tony?”

Tony shrugged. “Stop changing the subject. You really thought after everything I’d lie to Peter?”

“He’s changed you.” She stated.

Tony just tilted his head. He knew that the few that did know about him and Peter thought it was a bad idea but as the months went on it became clear that it wasn’t just fling for either of them. He never thought for one second that Pepper would be one of the ones that thought he was the same old Tony from before.

“Of course he’s changed me. The snap changed me. Losing you changed me.”

Pepper looked away for a moment before looking back at him. “You know, after everything I always thought that Peter was the new obsession in your life. That we didn’t work because you’re not the settling down type.”

Tony reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Pep. It’s nothing to do with you. Well not in a bad way.”

Pepper didn’t say anything but gave him a confused look.

“Listen. You did change me, a part of me I always thought we’d stop the dancing game and I’d wake up one day and realize I wanted you forever, maybe even as my wife. But it didn’t happen. I never woke up and we broke up. It was another thing I failed at as far I was concerned. So I focused on helping Peter become the best Spiderman he could be.”

“Then you lost him.”

Tony nodded. “Then I did everything possible to bring him back and the moment I seen him again for the first time it was like something snapped in me, I hugged him hard and well you know the rest.”

“You brought him back and then he saved you?”

Tony nodded but was interrupted by his AI

“Boss I believe you should show her.”

Tony looked up. “Show her what?”

“Don’t play stupid Boss, you have footage of ending of Thanos. Showing Ms. Potts where your relationship with Mr. Parker truly began would help rectify her concerns.” FRIDAY responded.

“What footage?” both Pepper and Tony said at the same time.

“The footage from both my systems and KAREN’s sir. “

“So all this time you two have been holding on to that without my knowledge?”

“We have also merged the footage together, if you like I can play it?”

“Play it Tony.”

Tony swallowed. “Pepper. I almost died. Are you sur-“

“Show me the damn footage. FRIDAY?” Pepper looked at him with a look that clearly meant she was not fucking around.

As much as Tony really didn’t want to relive the moment as far as he was concerned his last moments at the time, Pepper needed to see it for herself. He was thinking about how the hell his AI’s were able to hide such important information from him when the feed started.

 Tony could be seen standing next to Thanos when he slipped on his gauntlet. Peter was rushing towards the other man when Tony spoke.

 “And I am Iron Man.”

The feed switched to KAREN’s POV and that’s when Pepper let out a large gasp.

 Peter could be seen running to Tony and just as Tony spoke, Peter grabbed a hold of his face and pressed his lips firmly to Tony’s. The frame was fuzzy but you could see that Peter didn’t let go for a second until it was over and then both superheroes collapsed.

 “Tony! Peter!” several Avengers came into view.

 Peter was coughing up blood and Nat stopped in front of him, blocking the view of Tony.

 “Jesus Christ Little Spider are you alright?”

 “Tony…” He managed to spit out between coughs

 “He’s okay, what the fuck were you thinking?”

 There was more commotion, as it was obvious from the change of angle that Peter was unconscious.

The feed cut out and Pepper just looked at Tony. “I never knew.”

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah so Peter is different.”

“He saved you. He was barely 14 years old and he risked everything for you.”

“Mr. Parker was the age of 19 if you take into consideration of the 5 years during the blip.” FRIDAY spoke up.

Pepper shook her head confused. “Wait what?”

“When the original snap happened and I lost Pete. Everyone that disappeared with that was actually in an Alternate Universe where they aged.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yes so even though the Accords state everyone is the same age they were before the original snap.”

“That’s why you were so for dating Peter even though he’s in school and technically a teenager!”

Tony nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I tried to reason with him that he could do so much better than me but-“

“But I told him if I was willing to risk my life to save him with a kiss without a second thought at age 14 I was able to decide for myself who I want to be with at age 16. “ Peter piped up from the doorway.

Tony couldn’t help the grin that came across his face. “Don’t forget about the part where you told me how I was just too scared to be happy.”

“You sure were hard to sweep of your feet. You’d think risking my life to kiss you would be enough.”

“Never sweetheart.” Tony winked

Peter shook his head from where he stood. “Why’d this come up anyways? Hi Pepper!”

Pepper couldn’t help but smile at the two of them. She may not have been what Tony needed but it was clear as day they were meant for each other and any doubt she may have had went out the window. “Hi Peter.